


Mirror of the Soul

by Kaytoko



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst, Gen, Implied Irosami
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2013-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-23 17:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/624786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaytoko/pseuds/Kaytoko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How do you move on when your world is crumbling around you? Asami struggles to push through the horror and guilt of her father's attack upon the United Forces fleet. She realizes she's not so alone in her struggles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirror of the Soul

**Author's Note:**

> I had to re-watch Skeletons in the Closet to get this segment right. I still laugh at Iroh's voice. It's so unlike the Iroh I have in my head. That and Mako and Asami's break up was really unclear. lol Written for the prompt "Asami's first impression of Iroh" from edith1004 on tumblr. Warning: Angst like woah.

Standing in the warm underground quarters of Republic City, Asami felt cold. The whirring of the planes and the whistle of bombs still rang through her head, screams of the soldiers on the ships being blown from their posts lingered like a deathly haunt in the back of her mind. The horror of such a sight was so poignant and chilling that it made her fingers shake with fear. But it was the reminder that such death and destruction was a result of the inventions _her_ _father_ _made_ that brought the whole thing to a crashing and painful reality. 

Her father killed those men. 

Her _father_ … 

Nausea overtook her sharply, and she struggled to keep herself from retching right then. Squeezing her eyes closed, her fingers pressed painfully against her mouth as she focused her mind on something else. The gentle caress of wind, the soft sound of waves lapping against the shore, the murmur of voices. Voices she knew. And one she didn't. 

Opening her eyes, she looked slightly over the shoulder she had turned to hide her emotional trauma from her friends. They stood in an anxious circle around a man she did not recognize. His hair was disheveled and dripping from the water Korra had drug him from; his red and gold uniform torn and singed, a whole sleeve missing, exposing the raw and oozing burn upon his upper arm. He spoke calmly and powerfully, his golden eyes unwavering as he addressed the situation at hand with her friends. His words were to the point and decisive, quickly assessing their situation and planning their next move. He didn't even flinch as Korra laid her glove of glowing water upon his wound. 

She watched as her friends considered his plan and discussed possible solutions. The man briefly looked down to close his eyes, and for a moment, Asami saw a whole different person. His shoulders sank with the weight she could not see and a shadow fell across his face, deepening the lines along his forehead and between his eyebrows. It was brief, but for a moment, Asami saw the same acute stab of guilt and despair flash across his face that she felt herself just moments before. He struggled with it for a fleeting moment, his lips pressed together as the crashing waves of agony pressed upon him. But the raw emotions passed quickly, and he opened his eyes slowly, his shoulders lifting to confidence and his expression shifting from anguish to determination. When he addressed her friends again, all signs of his pain were gone, and all that remained was the drive to finish what he came to finish in the first place. 

She continued to watch him for a long moment as Korra patched him up and the group came to some sort of consensus. Not once did she see the signs of his personal grief. Only the resolution to end the bloodshed. His fierce determination inspired her in a way she could not comprehend, but as he stood to consult a map of the city and put their plan into action, Asami felt the weight of her own guilt lifting, if only slightly. There would be a time for anguish and blame, but they still had a purpose, and that meant saving the lives of so many people inadvertently involved in her father and Amon's wrongdoings. There would be a time for her to grieve, but it wasn't then.

Squaring her own shoulders, she faced her friends as they finalized their plan. Determination mirroring that of the man in the United Forces uniform, she met their eyes, her pain put aside. 

"It's time to take down my father."


End file.
